Nice Ryan!! I heard your going to Yosemite with the boys to aid climb??? I'm jealous, what happened to going with me and sending a bunch of sick free routes??? Oh well, good luck with them, sounds like some interesting objectives.

Cheers lads, and thanks to everyone who came out, last night was great fun!Jim, I'll definitely be back. Unfinished business on the chief, and the wall climbing in Squamish is genuinely quality. I'll make sure you can make my next going away :-)

Rather than bump the stupid "People who scrub rock and build trails are evil" thread I'll bring Ryan's question over here to the Squamish thread. Which not only is where it belongs, but gives me a chance to let Big Mike know we're all wishing him the best. And also, there's a direct-line connection between this project's unfinished state and Mike's current state, which means it just has to go here.

So, anyway Andy posted this shot of one of my old projects:

Candles in the Rain

Credit: MH2

And Ryan said:

Thanks Andy! Looks pretty cool actually, some quality stone. What's the deal with that thing Ghost? As the FA'ist would you give us permission to go up there with chainsaws & wire brushes & Ice hammers & rappel powered drills to do a little cleanup??

The deal with that thing is that way back in the last century, on the eve of my fiftieth birthday, I was not a happy man. Life had taken the wrong turn for me, and instead of looking forward to celebrating the next day in the company of family, friends, and lover, I knew I would be alone, and didn't see that changing any time soon. So I spent that next day doing the one thing I had left that gave me any joy... I bashed in to the base of the Oleson Wall and started a new route.

It was pissing rain, and cold. The climb was filthy. Seemed appropriate to commemorate the day by naming the thing "Candles in the Rain"

Over the next year I worked on it intermittently, mostly by myself, but sometimes with my friend Helen Habgood. We made some progress, and I began to believe that the climb might turn into something good. But just over a year from the day I started working on it, I moved to Golden.

When I moved back to Vancouver another year later, I went back and restarted work on it. (And also on an interesting little wall I found in Capilano Canyon).

And then I pulled a Big Mike. In a completely innocuous little fall on my bike (at the grand speed of about two miles per hour) I broke my hip.

As depressing as my future had looked before, I now didn't know if I'd ever walk again, let alone ride or climb or ski. Which is pretty much where Mike is going to be in a week or so. His close friends will be there for him, of course, but I can't stress enough how important it will be for all of us in the Supertopo community to continue to support him during his rehab period. I had strong support from my friends, but what really made a big difference was to hear from so many people in the internet climbing community (rec.climbing, back then).

Now, as it turned out, the hip frx marked the low point, and ever since then things have become better every day. It started with the support of the climbing community, progressed through an amazing job offer, which took me to a new city that is the best place I've ever lived, and led ultimately to meeting someone I've been in love with ever since (and happily married to for most of the last decade).

But I never did get back on Candles in the Rain.

I got close though. A couple of months after my accident I limped and staggered through the snow from the Bulletheads parking lot to the start of the backside trail. Getting up that little 10-foot scramble (this was before there were stairs there) was the hardest climb I ever did. I managed to get to the little bridge across the creek, but there was no way I could deal with the bush and boulders between there and the base of the wall. In fact I almost couldn't make it back to the car.

In the early spring, my bolt-together leg had healed enough for Andy (MH2) to take me out for a day in the Bluffs, but then came the job in Seattle, and...

In theory, I could could go back to work on that climb, but it's not likely that I will, and I would be thrilled if some of you guys who are active at Squamish now got out the crowbars and saws and wire brushes turned it into a real climb.

And maybe take a little chunk of rock that you've pried off it and give it to Mike as a present from me.

Yeah David, thanks for the reply! Very nice story, thanks for answering my question with such a great share. I thought we were just gonna keep trolling with all the moss lovers over there but this is much better. I think I'll walk up there & check it out sometime.

Don't think i ever posted this on here but here's some video i shot of my friend working the route "Lost highway" at the Pet. He tried it on & off for a few years & was getting really close before he moved to Asia in the fall. Maybe one day Coz will join in & pipe up about this one, i think perhaps he bolted it & abandoned it?? Then i think Marc B did it & probably Scott M but i don't know of any others though i'm sure there's a few?

Anyhow, this was my first time trying to shoot video on a route so it's kinda choppy, but it was fun & i learned a bunch- enjoy!

Nice lead but pales in comparision to your winter ascent of "Can't feel my fingers road" From what I can tell your climbing season starts on January 1st and ends on December 31st. Same dates as the Vancouver rain festival. Nice vid, is that a Scott Cosgrove route?

I had decided to take a break from winter/skiing and was down in Potrero for 2 weeks, and so missed your Feb 12 posts about The Terror. Good to hear that you enjoyed it. That's a big roof, and an impressive FFA by Finlayson. No, Tim and I didn't name it. It was prolly a Culbert name.

Big Mike. Very sorry to read about your accident. You have been "paying it forward" for some time, and should have a good karma bank account built up by now. All the best.
H

As depressing as my future had looked before, I now didn't know if I'd ever walk again, let alone ride or climb or ski. Which is pretty much where Mike is going to be in a week or so. His close friends will be there for him, of course, but I can't stress enough how important it will be for all of us in the Supertopo community to continue to support him during his rehab period. I had strong support from my friends, but what really made a big difference was to hear from so many people in the internet climbing community (rec.climbing, back then).

Truer words have never been spoken, and I didn't truely understand them till tonight!!!! I will get through this, hell or high water. I realized tonight it is going to be incredibly tough and I need every hand I can get. Every message, call, and visit helps me immensely at this time..

Am really looking forward to Scrubber, Glen and Harry's visits, and hope life will not interfere but totally understand if it does.

It's funny, I see people get flustered and feel like they cannot accomplish small tasks because they are somewhat difficult for them. I wonder at these times if they truly understand the meaning of difficulty.